“I got mixed up with the wrong woman, someone I shouldn’t have been involved with. I decided to get out of the situation and ended up with another woman, who was such a nice girl – completely different. But the woman I left wouldn’t leave me alone. Then I started getting calls from a guy in Reading. He was very threatening. I think she’d got involved with him. I tried to brush it off but he kept saying he was going to harm me. I was concerned for my mum, sister and niece and I went there and assaulted him. I was an idiot for doing it, I know, but that’s the state of mind I was in.”

Afterwards the bricklayer said: “I didn’t think I would get through, I couldn’t believe it. I have never had any luck, apart from the family I’ve got. It means everything to me; I can change mine and my family’s life.”

Nathan, who became homeless at just 11, admitted he was “an idiot” over the assault, which followed a bust-up over a woman — but has vowed to make “a fresh start”…

Nathan, who appeared alongside hosts Ant and Dec, said the “bad episode of his life” was the culmination of his struggle to get over the 2005 death of his beloved dad Keith. The tragic painter and decorator spiralled out of control after he divorced Nathan’s mum Joyce Sykes 20 years ago. He hit the bottle and ended up living on the street before eventually dying penniless at just 47.Fighting back tears, Nathan said: “My father died and I took it really badly. I was riddled with guilt. I felt I let him down at the end and went a bit off the rails.”Nathan and Keith bonded during five years living on the streets together after the divorce.

Some nights it got so bad we’d sleep under a van just to stay out of the rain. We did this on and off until I was 16…

He said: “I’ve been stupid but I did my time. I shouldn’t be looked down on due to my past. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Red Or Black boss Simon Cowell said of Nathan’s win: “I think the money will make a big difference to Nathan and his family.”